Chris Matthews and E J Dionne, who class themselves as liberal Catholics, sat down yesterday to discuss the new contraceptive ruling which has the Catholic Church's knickers all twisted.
I used to be a Catholic (before I saw the light and became an atheist), but Catholicism, theologically and intellectually, always taught me that women were held of the highest esteem in the Church, because of the Virgin Mary. In fact, all the chivalric romance that came from Mediaeval times, this placing of the pure damsel on a pedestal, came from likening the woman to Holy Mary, Mother of God.
However, there's another side of the coin here too. And if Mary's face graces one side, then Eve is on the other. And Eve is the evil sister, the woman - yep, it was a woman, folks - who tempted Adam in the garden and introduced us all to sin. For that, alone, we were condemned, if you believe the Bible, to suffer in childbirth, amongst other things.
It goes without saying that Catholics use birth control - and I don't just mean the rhythm method, which is mostly unreliable. And most Catholic women of child-bearing age use artificial birth control. Chris doesn't seem to have a problem with the pill, but he seems to get really angry about IUDs and morning-after pills, which he calls abortifacients.
Is it just me, or does it seem that the only Catholics who are really, really, really, really, really stressed on this are men? Watch Christ go into spittle-flecking mode:-
Personally, I don't think this has anything to do with religious freedom. I do think it has a lot to do with a religious institution imposing its values on employees of its various business institutions who either aren't Catholic or operate from a different viewpoint within the religion, itself (the "cafeteria Catholic" variety). And as for the commentator bewailing the fact that the government has been "beating up" on the Catholic Church for the past ten or twelve years, I think that just might have something to do with a little issue called child abuse and the Church's efforts to sweep this under the carpet.
You know, I don't miss Catholicism.
I used to be a Catholic (before I saw the light and became an atheist), but Catholicism, theologically and intellectually, always taught me that women were held of the highest esteem in the Church, because of the Virgin Mary. In fact, all the chivalric romance that came from Mediaeval times, this placing of the pure damsel on a pedestal, came from likening the woman to Holy Mary, Mother of God.
However, there's another side of the coin here too. And if Mary's face graces one side, then Eve is on the other. And Eve is the evil sister, the woman - yep, it was a woman, folks - who tempted Adam in the garden and introduced us all to sin. For that, alone, we were condemned, if you believe the Bible, to suffer in childbirth, amongst other things.
It goes without saying that Catholics use birth control - and I don't just mean the rhythm method, which is mostly unreliable. And most Catholic women of child-bearing age use artificial birth control. Chris doesn't seem to have a problem with the pill, but he seems to get really angry about IUDs and morning-after pills, which he calls abortifacients.
Is it just me, or does it seem that the only Catholics who are really, really, really, really, really stressed on this are men? Watch Christ go into spittle-flecking mode:-
Personally, I don't think this has anything to do with religious freedom. I do think it has a lot to do with a religious institution imposing its values on employees of its various business institutions who either aren't Catholic or operate from a different viewpoint within the religion, itself (the "cafeteria Catholic" variety). And as for the commentator bewailing the fact that the government has been "beating up" on the Catholic Church for the past ten or twelve years, I think that just might have something to do with a little issue called child abuse and the Church's efforts to sweep this under the carpet.
You know, I don't miss Catholicism.
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